Gun carriage



April 21, 3 E. c. GOEBERT ET AL 1,801,423

GUN CARRIAGE Filed Oct. 1, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTORS E E. [3 ClEbert I-LE' Zimmerman TTORNEY April 1931- E. c. GOEBERT ET AL 23 GUNCARRIAGE JNVENTORS E E. Gusher-t TTORNEY April 21, 1931. E. c. GOEBERTET AL GUN CARRIAGE Filed Oct. 1, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS E E BuEbert April 21, 1931. E. .c. GOEBERT ET AL 1,801,423

GUN CARRIAGE Filed Oct. 1, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS E-E-GnehertH-E-Zimmerman Patented Apr. 21, 1931 7 UNITE STATS ATENT OFFICE f ELMERC. GOEBERT, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND HARRY C. ZIMMERMAN, 7' OFWASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 7' GUN CARRIAGE Application fil edOctober 1, 1930. Serial No. 485,775.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT or MARCH 3, 1883, AS AMENDED APRIL so, 1928; 310o. e. 757

The invention described herein may be vention herein disclosed may bemade within manufactured and used by or for the Govthe scope of what isclaimed without depart: ernment for governmental purposes, without ing'from the spirit. of the invention.

the payment to us of any royalty thereon. A practical embodiment of theinvention The subject of this invention is a gun caris illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, riage. wherein In establishing a gun defenseagainst air- Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the imcraft it hasbeen customary to employ special proved gun carriage showing the partsin the anti-aircraft guns which were not assigned a traveling position;

mission. against ground targets. On the other Fig. 2 is a view in sideelevation of the 55 hand the light field artillery employed to gun mountemplaced for firing;

cooperate with infantry, and therefore avail- Fig. 3 is a view in frontelevation showing able in relatively larger numbers over a given themount emplaced for emergency firing;

area requiring protection, has never been as- Fig. 4 is a view in frontelevation showing .15 signed to aerial targets because the gun the mountlowered onto the ground; so

mounts are not structurally capable of suf- Fig. 5 is a transversesectional view ficient movement in azimuth and elevation through themount; and because they do not possess sufiicient Fig. 6 is a verticalsectional view on the stability to insure the delivery of a projectileline 66 of Fig. 7 and showing the elevating at a particular andaccurately calculated and depressing mechanism; 65 point in space. Fig.7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 In designing a gun carriage whichis to of Fig. 5;- be essentially a light field artillery weapon Fig. 8is a view in side elevation of the pinbut capable of delivering fireagainst air ion shaft and foot lever; 2 craft, a compromise must beeffected between Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 70 thecharacteristic requirements of two types of Fig. 7; y of mounts, therestriction as to weight being Fig. 10 is a detail view in sideelevation, constantly in the foreground. parts in section, showing theadjoining ends In accordance with a program of this naof the outriggerand mount; ture it is proposed to associate a wheeled axle Figs. 11 and12 are sectional views on the unit with a gun mount in such a mannerthat corresponding lines of Fig. 1; and an elevating and depressingmechanism may Fig. 13 is a horizontal sectional view be employed toestablish ground contact for through the trail lock. the gun mount, toraise the wheels from the Referring to the drawings by numerals ofground to permit their removal and to lower reference: 80 the gun mounton to the ground. There is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a gun car- A yieldingsuspension is incorporated in riage consisting generally of a pedestalthe carriage and arranged with a view to obmount A, supported by awheeled axle unit tain simplicity and compactness. B and trail membersC. A top carriage D of With the foregoing and other objects in typicalanti-aircraft design carries a gun E. view, the invention resides in thenovel ar- The mount A (Fig. 3) comprises a cylinrangement andcombination of parts and in drical pedestal 5 having an enlarged basel6the details of construction hereinafter deincluding an annular spade 7for engaging scribed. and claimed, it being understood that the ground.A plurality of radially dischanges in the precise embodiment of theinposed triangular webs 8 connect the spade to "1 the marginal portionof the base and provide an increased anchorage when the mount isemplaced.

On the upper side of the base a plurality of equally spaced webs 9 (Fig.7) preferably three in number, connect the base and the pedestal 5. Twoof the webs are employed to hingedly carry the trail members 0 while theremaining web hingedly carries a socket member 10 (Figs. 4 and 10)consisting of spaced vertical side plates 11 and a back plate 12. Theupper extremities of the side plates are each formed with an open,bearingnlla and the lower extremities are provided with alignedapertures 13-13 for receiving a pin 14. An outrigger 15 having one endarranged to fit in the socket member 10 includes journal pins 1616receivable in the open bearings and an aperture 17 for receiving the pin14. 7

A pair of tubularhousings 1818 (Fig. 7 fixed to the pedestal on oppositesides thereof each encloses a rack-bar 19 of an elevating and depressingmechanism. The rack-bars extend through the base and are each secured asby a pin 20 to a foot, plate 21 (Fig. 6). Meshing with the rack-bars area pair of pinions 2222 fast on a shaft 23 extending through the pedestal5 which is conformably provided with apertures 24-24. The pinions aredisposed in an extension 25 (Fig. 7) of the housing- 18 and the terminalportions of the shaft are mountedin outer bearings 2626 and in innerbearings 2727, the latter connected by a semi-cylindrical spacer 28which holds the bearings in place.

i R ferring to Fig. 9 one end of the shaft 23 carries a ratchet wheel 29engaged by a'ipawl 30 secured to a shaft 31 by a pin 32. A foot lever 33is secured to the projecting end of the shaft 31 and includes a Weightedarm 34 for normally maintaining the pawl in engagee ment with theratchet wheel.

The ratchet wheel on one end of the shaft, and a collar 35 on the otherend holds the shaft against displacement and maintain the pinions inproper engagement with the rackbars. The extremities of the shaft aresquared for the receptionof an actuating tool. As seen in Figs. 1, 3 and5, the gun mount is adapted for transportation by means of a carriageconsisting of a single wheeled axle unit. The bowed axle 37 passesthrough aligned apertures 38-438 in the pedestal 5 a and the centralportion of the axle is received in an aperture 39 ina saddle 40. Thesaddle is cylindrical and has a sliding fit in the pedestal, and restson a resilient member 41, specifically a block of rubberywhose lowerportion is disposed in a rigid container 42 secured to the base.

Y "A yielding suspension is provided through a helical spring 43 whichis confined between the upper face of thes'addle 40and a diaphragm 44 inthe pedestal. The relative movement of the pedestal with respect to theaxle is o nly limited by the strength of the spring.

For the purpose of maintaining the assembled relationship between thepedestal and axle and preventing independent transverse and longitudinalmovement of the members a truss is provided on each side of thepedestal. Each truss includes a vertical "rod 45 whose lower bifurcatedend 46 embraces and is secured to the axle by means of the pin 47 andwhose upper end 48 is in which not only serves as a guide for the spring43' but receives the lower end 54 of" the spindle 55 of the top carriage6 and the bearings 56 for the spindle.

Incthe traveling position the trail members are folded and lockedtogether by a also draft coupling '57, (Figs. l2fand l3) bent twice at aright angle. Theouter free arm 58 terminates in a lunette 59 andtheinner arm 60 is mounted in spaced bearings 6161 fixed on the inside ofone ofthe trail members and held against removal by a nut 62.

The inner arm is formed with a pair of flattened portions 63-63 adaptedto enter a key hole slot 64 formed in lugs 65011 the inside of theothertrail member.

The trail members are provided on the: upper sides with aplurality of.clamps 66 for engaginglugs 67 on the outrigger when the outrigger islaid on the folded trail members. This is the traveling position of thegun carriage.

, In emplacing the actuated to lower the rack bars until the foot plateengages the ground (Fig. 2). Continued actuation causes the pedestal andaxle unit to be raised and from this position the gun may be fired orthe wheel may be removed. action thereon through wrenches or'byweightofthe mount when the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet wheehcauses thepedestal to be lowered onto the ground. The trail members are opened outand when the outrigger is attached to the socket member, an enlargedbase resting on the ground is provided to in-' sure stability duringfiring. The'mount is preparedfor the traveling by reversing theforegoingprocedure. 1

Rotation of the coupling 57 through and to a ver-'v mount the shaft 23Reversal of the shaft 23 either by We claim 1. In a gun mount, apedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spade on the base, spacedrack-bars carried by the pedestal, a shaft passing through the pedestal,pinions on the shaft meshing with the rack-bars, a ratchet mechanism forthe shaft, a foot-plate disposed within the annular spade and connectedto the rack-bars, a saddle within the pedestal, a cushioning memberbetween the saddle and the base of the pedestal, a spring between thesaddle and the upper portion of the pedestal, an axle passing throughthe pedestal and saddle, vertically disposed rods secured to the axle onopposite sides of the pedestal, spaced guides on the pedestal in whichthe vertical rods are movable, an inclined rod secured to the axle andto a vertical rod between the spacedguides, wheels detachably secured tothe axle, trail members hinged to the pedestal, an outrigger attachableto the pedestal, and a top carriage mounted in the pedestal anddepending within the spring.

2. In a gun mount, a pedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spadeon the base, spaced rack-bars carried by the pedestal, a shaft passingthrough the pedestal, pinions on the shaft meshing with the rack-bars, afoot-plate disposed within the annular spade and connected to therack-bars, a saddle within the pedestal, a cushioning member between thesaddle and the base of the pedestal, a spring between the saddle and theupper portion of the pedestal, an axle passing through the pedestal andsaddle, vertically disposed rods secured to the axle on opposite sidesof the pedestal, spaced guides on the pedestal in which the verticalrods are movable, an inclined rod secured to the axle and to a verticalrod between the spaced guides, wheels detachably secured to the axle,trail members hinged to the pedestal, and an outrigger attachable to thepedestal.

3. In a gun mount, a pedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spadeon the base, an elevating and depressing mechanism for the pedestal, asaddle within the pedestal, a cushioning member between the saddle andthe base of the pedestal, a spring between the saddle and the upperportion of the pedestal, an axle passing through the pedestal andsaddle, Vertically disposed rods secured to the axle on opposite sidesof the pedestal, spaced guides on the pedestal in which the verticalrods are movable, an inclined rod secured to the axle and to a verticalrod between the spaced guides, wheels detachably secured to the axle,trail members hinged to the pedestal, and an outrigger attachable to thepedestal.

4. In a gun mount, a pedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spadeon the base, an elevating and depressing mechanism for the pedestal, asaddle within the pedestal, a

cushioning member between the saddle and the base of the pedestal, aspring between the saddle and the upper portion of the pedestal, an axlepassing through the pedestal and saddle, a truss carried by the axle oneach side of the pedestal and having sliding engagement with thepedestal, wheels detachably secured to the axle, trail members hinged tothe pedestal, and an outrigger attachable to the pedestal.

5. In a gun mount, a pedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spadeon the base, spaced rack-bars carried by the pedestal, a" foot platedisposed within the annular spade and connected to the rack-bars, ashaft passing through the pedestal, pinions, on the shaft meshing withthe rack-bars, and a ratchet mechanism for the shaft.

6. In a gun mount, a pedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spadeon the base, spaced rack-bars carried by the pedestal, a foot platedisposed within the annular spade and connected to the rack-bars, ashaft passing through the pedestal, and pinions on the shaft meshingwith the rack-bars.

7 In a gun mount, a pedestal having an enlarged base, an annular spadeon the base, an elevating and depressing mechanism carried by thepedestal and a foot plate disposed within the annular spade andconnected to the elevating and depressing mechanism.

8. In a gun mount, a pedestal, a saddle within the pedestal, acushioning member supporting the saddle, a spring between the saddle andthe upper portion of the pedestal, an axle passing through the saddle,vertically disposed rods secured to the axle on opposite sides of thepedestal, spaced guides on the pedestal in which the vertical rods aremovable, and an inclined rod secured to the axle and to a vertical rodbetween the spaced guides.

9. In a gun mount, a pedestal, a saddle within the pedestal, acushioning member supporting the saddle, a spring between the saddle andthe upper portion of the pedestal, an axle passing through the saddle,and a truss carried by the axle on each side of the pedestal and havingsliding engagement with the pedestal.

10. In a gun mount, a pedestal, a saddle within the pedestal, acushioning member supportin the saddle, a sprin between the saddle andthe upper portion of the pedestal, and an axle passing through thesaddle.

11. In a gun mount, a pedestal, an axle passing through the pedestal, acushioning member between the under side of the axle and the pedestal,and a spring between the upper side of the axle and the pedestal.

12. In a gun mount a pedestal, an axle passing through the pedestal, ayielding suspension between the axle and pedestal and housed in thepedestal, and a top carriage mounted on the pedestalandextendin'g Withinthe yielding suspension.

13. In a gun mount a pedestal, an axle passing through the pedestal, anda, yielding sus- ,pension between the axle and pedestal and housed inthe pedestal.

l hln a trail look, a pair of trail members, a cranked draft couplingjournaled on the insideofone of the trail members, and having reducedportions, and lugs on the inside face of the other trail member, eachlug having a key-hole'slot for receiving the reduced portion of thecoupling. 7

ELMER C. GOEBERT.

, HARRY o. ZIMME-RMAN.

